Workers employed for new construction of elevated structures, such as buildings, scaffolding, marine oil rigs, and elevated pipelines, are often required to wear a safety harness connected to one end of a lanyard, with the other end of the lanyard being secured to the structure on which the worker is employed. The harness and lanyard support the worker's weight should the worker accidentally fall, breaking the fall and thereby preventing the worker from impacting the ground. Safety harnesses and lanyards are also advisable for people performing other tasks or activities at high elevation, such as window washers and recreational climbers.
Conventional safety harnesses are constructed from sturdy material such as nylon webbing or leather. The harness typically includes a "D"-ring or other fitting secured to the harness to which a coupling on the end of the safety lanyard can be connected. The safety lanyard is typically constructed from a line that is not capable of substantial reversible elongation, such as a nylon rope. Such lanyards and harnesses are capable of supporting a person upon falling, but do not do an effective job of protecting the person from many injuries. Because of the non-resilient nature of the harness and lanyard, the person is subjected to severe impact when the lanyard is initially pulled taut. Additionally, because most lanyards are connected to the posterior side of the harness, i.e., to the back of a worker, the worker is often supported in a face-down (prone) position upon falling. This causes the worker's head to project forwardly, which may expose the worker's head to impact with a building or other structure on which the worker is employed. Thus, while the worker may not strike the ground, the shock of the terminated fall and impact with the elevated structure may potentially still result in substantial trauma to the head and spinal column.
Climbers typically utilize a climbing rope that is designed to undergo a limited extent of deformation to absorb impact upon a climber's fall. This deformation is not completely reversible, due to the rope strands being stressed near their elastic limit of elongation, and the rope is traditionally discarded after it has been used to stop a climber's fall. Additionally, the amount of shock absorption provided by elongation of the rope is very limited, particularly if the rope is not extremely long. Further, such harnesses again typically place the user in a prone position upon falling, rendering the user susceptible to head and spinal cord trauma.